Sendai: Taiwan's Hsu Jo-hsi pitched six scoreless innings with six strikeouts on Wednesday, leading the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to a 6-1 victory in his first start in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league. According to Focus Taiwan, the 25-year-old righthander signed a three-year deal with the reigning NPB champion Hawks in December. Hsu took to the mound for the first time in an away game against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Sendai. In each of the first three innings, Hsu retired the side, facing only three batters, aided by his catcher, who twice threw out runners that had reached base. In total, Hsu threw 86 pitches, notching six strikeouts over six scoreless innings against the Golden Eagles, while allowing only three hits and two walks. The Fukuoka Hawks went on to win the game 6-1, improving their record to 5-0. In a post-game interview, Hsu expressed gratitude to his manager for the opportunity to start the game and to his teammates for their defensive contributions. Hsu also praised c atcher Takashi Umino, acknowledging the trust he had in Umino's pitch calls and focusing entirely on execution. With his performance, Hsu became the first Taiwanese pitcher to win his inaugural start in an NPB game since Kuo Chun-lin achieved the feat for the Saitama Seibu Lions in 2015.